Date Published: 15/10/2019
ARCHIVED - Extensive damage at the Moorish Medina Siyasa archaeological site in Cieza
ARCHIVED ARTICLE
The adobe walls of Moorish homes are particularly susceptible to the effects of torrential rain
A month has now passed since the severe flooding in many parts of the Region of Murcia during the severest gota fría storm in the last 50 years and in Cieza, which was one of the first towns to suffer the torrential downpour on 12th September, work has yet to begin on the restoration of the old Moorish town of Siyâsa after which the modern conurbation is named.
The road leading up to the Atalaya hill on which the remains of the Moorish town are to be found is still impassable, and the walkway which was being built to provide access to the site for the elderly and those of limited mobility was completely washed away by torrents of floodwater. On top of that, the main visitors centre at the Medina Siyasa site suffered considerable damage in the storm, and arguably even more important was the effect on the archaeological site itself.
Thankfully recent reinforcement work carried out on the walls of the old Moorish houses at least partly did its job, but those structures which had not been strengthened with cement are thought to have suffered severe damage. This is because the Moors built using a kind of adobe substance and plaster which is relatively soft and vulnerable, and particularly susceptible to the effects of heavy rainfall.
The walkway which was under construction began at the Collado de la Atalaya and was to run to the main Moorish site, and as well as this addition having been reduced to rubble the other path leading to the ruins also suffered severe damage. The extent of the destruction has yet to be fully evaluated but the Town Hall insists that the work will begin again as soon as access is possible via the road leading up to the site.
This road restoration is being treated as a high priority by the Town Hall, and in the meantime the romería in which the figure of the Virgen del Buen Suceso is carried back up to her sanctuary has been indefinitely postponed from its usual date in late September.
It was in the early 1980s that excavation work began at the Moorish town of Siyâsa, led by Julio Navarro, and since then 19 houses have been uncovered. However, the Budget has not been available to cover and protect them, leaving them exposed to the elements, and some experts estimate that over the course of the last 30 years some walls have sunk by as much as a metre. Strong winds also endanger the structures, and in this context work began last summer to reinforce the whole site and the different architectonic elements it houses.
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